Shloka 35

Śiva-Naivedya-Grāhyatā-Nirṇayaḥ

On the Proper Acceptance and Merit of Śiva’s Consecrated Food-Offering

Devanagari script

करपूजानिवृत्तानां स्वभोज्यं तु निवेदयेत् । निवृत्तानां परं सूक्ष्मं लिंगमेव विशिष्यते

Transliteration

karapūjānivṛttānāṃ svabhojyaṃ tu nivedayet | nivṛttānāṃ paraṃ sūkṣmaṃ liṃgameva viśiṣyate

Translation

Đối với người đã kết thúc việc lễ bái bằng tay theo hình thức bên ngoài, hãy dâng chính phần ăn của mình làm lễ vật. Còn với người theo nẻo nivṛtti, hướng tâm vào nội tại, Thực tại tối thượng, vi tế bậc nhất, được hiển lộ đặc biệt chỉ là Liṅga mà thôi.

Word by Word

• kara-pūjā-nivṛttānām: of those who have desisted from hand-worship
• kara-pūjā-nivṛttānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक) + pūjā (प्रातिपदिक) + ni-√vṛt (धातु) + kta (कृत्) → nivṛtta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (समास) ‘kara-pūjāyāḥ nivṛttāḥ’ (from hand-worship); Kṛdanta PPP used substantively; Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural

• sva-bhojyam: one’s own food (to be offered)
• sva-bhojyam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + bhojya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa ‘svam bhojyam’ (one’s own eatable/meal); Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात) contrast/emphasis

• nivedayet: should offer/present
• nivedayet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√vid (धातु) + ṇic (णिच्) → nivedaya + tiṅ
• Form: Vidhi-liṅ (विधिलिङ्/Optative), Parasmaipada, 3rd Person, Singular; causative (णिच्)

• nivṛttānām: of the withdrawn (followers)
• nivṛttānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ni-√vṛt (धातु) + kta (कृत्) → nivṛtta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Kṛdanta PPP used substantively; Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural

• param: supreme
• param: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; agrees with ‘liṅgam’ (understood as predicate)

• sūkṣmam: subtle
• sūkṣmam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sūkṣma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; agrees with ‘liṅgam’

• liṅgam: the liṅga
• liṅgam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• eva: alone/indeed
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Emphatic particle (अवधारण निपात)

• viśiṣyate: is distinguished/excels
• viśiṣyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√śiṣ (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ (लट्/Present), Ātmanepada, 3rd Person, Singular; intransitive ‘is distinguished/excels’

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pati

Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti

Shakti Dimension

Role: liberating

Ritual Elements

Offering: naivedya

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Linga

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

It teaches that when devotion matures from outward acts to inner withdrawal (nivṛtti), worship culminates in recognizing the subtle, supreme Linga—Shiva as the transcendent Pati—while daily life (even eating) is sanctified as offering.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

It affirms the Linga as the foremost focus for the inward-turned practitioner: external rites may be completed, but the Linga remains the supreme ‘sign’ through which Saguna worship leads the mind toward the subtle, beyond-gross reality.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Make your meal itself a naivedya—eat only after mentally offering it to Shiva in the Linga—and contemplate the subtle Linga within, letting external ritual resolve into steady inner remembrance.